Saturday Night Mission
by kireira
Summary: Kaga went to great lengths to get Hikaru to spend his Saturday nights on proper dates instead of across a Go board from old geezers or, worse still, Touya Akira. HikaAki.


_(15 March 2008) Edited for better flow, with thanks to **saitha** and **Amiri** for the feedback. Thanks to all who commented, as well. :)_

* * *

**Saturday Night Mission**

..

.

Hikaru blamed it on Sai.

Since the ghost appeared in front of him, it wasn't long before his whole life turned into a Go saga. In place of his steadily diminishing normal friends were more and more fellow Go players, with -- as far as his social circle went -- a total female population of one.

Two if he counted Akari, but she'd been his friend before she started on Go, so.

"I know, too!" he protested fervently when Kaga teased him about his ignorance in certain hormonal matters.

Hikaru had never seen Kaga with any girl either, but even a bluff didn't sound like one coming from him.

"Weekends are for dates," Kaga told him. "You expect me to believe you when you're here playing old geezers on a lovely Saturday night?"

"You're here, yourself," Hikaru pointed out.

"I was looking for you. Your mom told me you'd be here."

"All right, then," Hikaru grunted. "What's the matter? You didn't come visit to discuss my love life."

"On the contrary," Kaga slapped a hand on Hikaru's shoulder. It hurt. "Tsutsui mentioned the other day that he was wondering how you were doing. Seeing as I've successfully set him up with a pretty little lady--"

"Wait, Tsutsui-san?" Hikaru's eyes bulged.

"What's so surprising about that? He _is_ your senior. And not as obsessed with Go as you are," Kaga paused with a thoughtful expression. "And... he doesn't know this himself, but a lot of girls actually find him adorable with that quiet geeky look. It was quite an easy task, really."

"...Oh."

"So! I take it upon myself to set you up with one, too," Kaga grinned. "I'm sure Tsutsui will be pleased."

He began dragging Hikaru by the arm. "Come with me. We'll be out hunting for a bit."

"H-hey! Who says I'm going with you?" Hikaru stumbled along towards the motorbike, trying and failing to pull himself free.

"_I_ say so," Kaga said menacingly.

"I can't! I have an appointment tonight."

"Oh?" Kaga quirked an eyebrow with interest. "Tell me earlier if you have someone already. Now let me hear about it."

"Not that," Hikaru managed to shake his arm free while Kaga reached for his helmet. "I'm going to the other salon to play Touya."

"Touya Akira!" Kaga exclaimed with disgust. "Then you're definitely coming with me."

"But we're going to discuss that title match he just played--"

"There are other days," Kaga threw a spare helmet at Hikaru, who fumbled to catch it.

"--that," Hikaru insisted, "and he'll kill me if I ditch him."

"_I_ will kill you if you don't," Kaga retorted. "And you're miles away from him as of now."

Hikaru shrunk a little.

"Hmm?" Kaga folded his arms.

"All right, all right," Hikaru grunted. He flicked his cell phone open to make a call.

"Hey. It's me. Listen, I bumped into an old friend, so... Yeah. ...Sure, when would you... Okay, tomorrow's good for me too. ...I know, I know, geez. See you then."

He closed the cell.

"Where are you going tomorrow?" Kaga asked.

"His house," Hikaru answered unsuspectingly. "The cleaner comes every Sunday. He needs to stay home to open the door for her."

_Too much knowledge about the wrong person_, Kaga thought, shaking his head. "Come. You're in urgent need of a brainwash."

.

.

"So?" Kaga raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Hikaru responded half-heartedly, sweeping an unfocused gaze around the mall.

"Seen anyone you like?"

Hikaru made a pained expression. "How am I supposed to know just by looking?"

"Oho, you're a deep kind of guy, eh?" Kaga smirked. "Fine, then go and chat them up."

"Wha...? I don't even know who they are!"

"So you need a pick-up line," Kaga said, looking smug. "Let me teach you some. One, ask for directions."

"Like, to the nearest Go salon?" Hikaru huffed.

Kaga whacked him with his Shougi fan. "Spout another Go term and I'll drown you."

Hikaru rubbed his head grumpily. "Why not? They'll have to know eventually, that I play Go for a living."

"Oh, sure, Go pro is such a hot profession," Kaga said sarcastically. "Girls flock to Go conventions every time, eh?"

"They sure do when Isumi-san's playing," Hikaru shrugged. "And you should've seen the crowd at the Institute when Ko Yongha was visiting."

Kaga was surprised, not by those facts that he couldn't be bothered with, but by the fact that Hikaru actually noticed them. Well, it was a good sign that puberty hadn't whizzed past the kid after all.

"Eh. Then shouldn't you have a fanclub of your own, too?"

"Everyone in the salon we just left are my most loyal supporters," Hikaru said proudly.

"We're talking about the female variety," Kaga whacked him again. "What a pain. Haven't you befriended any girl before? I thought there was one who followed you into the Go club."

"Akari and I are just friends," Hikaru said quickly.

Kaga smirked at the blush. "Oh? It seems we can skip the part on finding a target."

"I told you already we're just friends! Besides, she's got a boyfriend."

Kaga chucked, disappointed. "Really? What a shame. Someone beat you to it, huh?"

"She's always been siding with Mitani rather than me," Hikaru grunted, then hastened to add, "Not that I care."

"Mitani?" Kaga scrunched his eyebrow, trying to recall. "Oh, that hissy brat. Too bad, then. You'll have to find another one."

"I don't need a girlfriend. My Saturday nights are fine the way they are."

"Far from it," Kaga worked his fan again, but this time Hikaru dodged it. "What would you do five years from now when you need to get a wife and you realize you have no dating skills because you've spent all the weekends in your youth alone with a Go recluse? I'm concerned for your mental health, really."

"It's not like we're not talking to anyone else," Hikaru retorted, taking slight offense at that 'Go recluse' term.

"I mean about something other than Go."

Hikaru paused. "Food?" he ventured.

Kaga shook his head with exasperation. "Anyway. I'm giving you a week's time. If you still don't have anyone in mind when I see you next Saturday, then I'll find one for you."

"Hey--"

"And don't even think of running away. I know where Touya Kouyo's Go salon is."

"Wha--"

.

.

"You cannot make it this week either?" Touya asked.

"Uh, yeah," Hikaru said, feeling bad. "Sorry. Saturday nights are a bit..."

He hung his sentence, unsure how to explain. Hearing no response from Touya, though, he turned back in time to catch the curious peering look on Touya's face.

He only had a split second to marvel at the rare boyish expression, before Touya quickly straightened up.

"That's fine," Touya said, sounding a little uncomfortable. "Which day would be convenient for you, then?"

"Eh?"

"Could we reschedule?" Touya asked tentatively, sensing Hikaru's disorientation.

"Ah! Of course," Hikaru hastened to reply. "Ummm... Tuesday or Friday afternoons will be fine with me."

"I have study group on Tuesday, shidougo Friday," Touya considered. "I need time to travel for the shidougo class, but we can probably find a time on Tuesday. Would six p.m. be alright?"

"Ergh, no good. We have this weekly gathering at Waya's apartment after dinner."

"I see..."

"Ah, you can come if you want," Hikaru added. "Then maybe we can combine the sessions."

Touya winced briefly, which didn't escape Hikaru's attention.

"If it's Waya you're worried about, he really isn't so bad when Isumi-san is around," Hikaru said, rather amused.

"Uh, still, maybe... not," Touya said with a slight frown. "How about we stick to Sunday at my house then, like last week?"

"Oh, that works too," Hikaru replied, glad that they'd worked out a solution.

"Great," Touya said. He sounded rather distant.

"Sorry," Hikaru repeated. He really didn't want Touya to think he was just making up excuses, and Touya's sudden accommodating politeness had rendered all his prepared arguments unnecessary, which left him feeling somewhat... lonely.

But rather than the disappointment which Hikaru had feared, Touya's half-smile impressed on him more of a resigned acceptance, which he didn't comprehend.

"It's all right. I need to get going now, so... see you Sunday? You can come for lunch too if you want."

"Sure, thanks," Hikaru answered, distracted.

.

.

Hikaru for sure didn't intend to go along with Kaga -- he was just avoiding the one place Kaga knew where to find him. He called up Waya instead, and planned an evening out.

"Nase already has plans, so she's not coming," Waya informed him as they sat down in the cafetaria. "What brought this about? You were never free when we asked you out on Saturdays."

Hikaru sighed. "I'm kinda pressured to get a date," he said.

"Uoooh," Waya grinned hugely and patted his back.

"But I don't have anyone I want to date right now!" Hikaru wrestled him away.

"What are you hurrying for?" Isumi asked, genuinely piqued. "You're still very young."

"Me, on the other hand..." Kadowaki said wistfully.

"It's not that," Hikaru said. "I just need to shake this guy off, so he wouldn't drag me out of the Go salons I go to every Saturday."

"That bad?" Waya thought hard for a while. "Then... how about asking Nase to pretend to be your girlfriend?"

Hikaru gave him a horrified look.

"What? She's your only hope. You're not close to any of the other girls, right?"

"But, but, she's a Go player."

"So? Is there a requirement against Go-playing girls?" Waya returned, irritated.

"Go players are not girls," Hikaru reasoned. When the others looked at him strangely, he hastily explained, "I mean, I cannot see them as potential dates!"

"It doesn't matter, right? It's only for show."

"Still... I don't think I want to be reminded of this whole thing the next time I play her."

"...Fine," Waya said tentatively. "Then how about that girl... uhm, what's her name, your childhood friend? The one who came to watch the exhibition two weeks ago."

"Akari? No way! Mitani has enough reasons to maim me as it is."

"Huh? She's taken?" Waya stood up suddenly.

Hikaru frowned. "Why are you so surprised?"

"Eh, nothing..." Waya slumped back in his chair, throwing a glance at the grinning Honda.

"Pay up, pay up," Honda said cheerfully.

Hikaru's eyes widened. "Hey, you guys were betting on us?'!"

"Maa, maa," Isumi interjected. "Anyway, let's get back to the problem..."

"Pretending isn't a good solution in any case, no?" Kadowaki spoke up. "This friend of yours will flip if he ever finds out. I mean, it's such a stupid thing to fight over."

"Serves him right," Hikaru muttered.

"Don't say that," Isumi commented gently. "Can't you persuade him at all?"

"He insisted it wasn't healthy spending all my time on Go," Hikaru made a face.

"He should see you right now," Waya said. "Happily socializing and taking the evening out."

"Come to think of it," Hikaru said, "maybe it's just because he had a problem with Touya."

Honda cocked his head. "What does Touya have to do with it?"

"Well, Saturday nights happen to be my regular meeting time with Touya."

"Put that way, it does sound a little..." Kadowaki grinned.

Hikaru shrugged, not finding anything wrong with that. "I now play him on Sundays."

"Nothing can stop you guys, huh?" Waya commented. "What does your friend think of that?"

As if cued, Hikaru's cell phone rang. Hikaru groaned as soon as he checked it. "That's him."

"If only Nase were here," Waya said.

Hikaru's eyes widened with a bright idea. "Waya! Use your girly voice to tell him I'm already on a date!"

"Why, you-- I have no such thing as a girly voice!" Waya objected violently, ducking Hikaru's head. "Ah! Isumi-san!"

"You really think this would work?" Isumi replied in his lowest pitch.

Kadowaki burst out in laughter.

Hikaru switched off his phone with a shudder. "He'll totally come find me later," he muttered gloomily.

Waya patted his shoulder sympathetically.

"Where are you playing Touya tomorrow?" Kadowaki asked.

"His house... why?"

"At least you'll be safe there. I don't think he would go to an enemy's house just to bust you, right?"

For the second time that night, the hypothetical light bulb shone in Hikaru's eyes.

.

.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Touya said, a towel still on hand and remnants of shower dripping from his hair. "I haven't expected you this early."

"No, I'm sorry," Hikaru replied, embarrassed. "I meant to call beforehand, but I kinda left home in a rush." After dodging Kaga until eleven o'clock the previous night, he certainly hadn't expected Kaga to show up at seven-thirty this morning, either.

He almost gave up after waiting at Touya's door for twelve minutes, but he figured the neighbourhood was still a better hiding place than any near his own.

"You can help yourself to breakfast first, if you want," Touya gestured to the kitchen. "I'll just take a few more minutes."

"Ah, it's all right, I'll just, uh, hang around," Hikaru said. "And, um, if you already have plans for the morning, go ahead." He hadn't thought of that when the 'bright idea' occured to him yesterday.

"I used to listen to language lesson tapes at this time," Touya said, absently toweling his hair dry. "But these last few weeks Father was home, so he and I discussed the matches he played, instead. We can do the same."

"That will be great," Hikaru breathed in relief.

"Is there... any problem at home?" Touya asked hesitantly.

Hikaru winced at the reminder. "Not really... just someone I need to avoid."

Touya had that peering look again, but he only said, "Oh," with the tip of his teeth coming into brief contact with his lower lip before vanishing.

Hikaru wondered why he noticed that-- it must be the sparkling water on where Touya's hair met his neck that had drawn his eyes there.

"Let me put this away, and we can have breakfast before the game," Touya said, bringing Hikaru back to reality.

"Okay," Hikaru replied hurriedly. "And eh... we can eat out for lunch, my treat." He pondered if he could hold up in this ideal hiding place until dinner, and afterwards. Eleven p.m. would surely be pushing the limits of propriety...

"You don't have to," Touya said, a hint of surprise in his voice. "But thanks."

Hikaru knew that unusually gentle smile was meant to ensure him that he wasn't an unwanted guest, but it instead made him nervous for reasons he couldn't put his finger on.

.

.

The games over the week did a good job of taking Hikaru's mind off Kaga, so much so that he forgot to sneak when he came home that Friday night.

"Where were you last weekend?" Kaga boomed.

Hikaru jumped. Then he recalled the whole two days' anxiety, and annoyance overcame his survival instinct. "Avoiding you, of course! Don't force people to do what they don't want to!"

"Hey, don't make it sound so bad," Kaga said, picking up on the stress he'd caused the poor boy. "It is supposed to be fun."

"Well, you know what my idea of fun is," Hikaru scowled.

Kaga breathed deeply and summoned his patience. It wouldn't do to scare Hikaru into hiding again. "Fine, I won't ask you to go on a date tomorrow. We can just hang out at places normal teenagers go to."

"...Really?" Hikaru asked suspiciously.

"Yeah. Anyway, someone like you would need to take this very very slowly."

"I would actually love to meet up with Tsutsui-san," Hikaru said thoughtfully. "We haven't seen each other for a long time."

"Sure, I'll call him," Kaga promised immediately. Why hadn't he thought of this before? Ask Tsutsui's girlfriend to bring along a female friend, and things would work themselves out.

...well, with some amount of push from Kaga's side, seeing as this was Hikaru we were talking about.

"Tomorrow, then?" Hikaru confirmed.

"Yep," Kaga raised a thumb.

.

.

Even in hindsight it still seemed like a good idea.

Kaga shook his head at the group he was supervising: Tsutsui and Hikaru chatting excitedly about Go while the girls were off shopping somewhere.

He groaned. "Tsutsui, you're supposed to help me with this!"

"Eh, what?" Tsutsui replied. "I don't see any problem. This is an important growing period for Shindou. He should of course concentrate on what he likes to do."

Kaga decided Sayaka-chan's influence on Tsutsui was undesirable in some aspects. He was having a much harder time persuading the reliable boyfriend into anything now.

"See?" Hikaru said triumphantly, seeing the opportunity to garner support. "Don't you think it's also fine to go to Go salons on Saturdays, Tsutsui-san?"

"Well... but do you get a break every now and then?"

"Of course," Hikaru answered readily.

"Meals and transportation time not included," Kaga returned.

"Uh... of course! There are interesting people in the salons too!"

"Oh, maybe this isn't a good time, but I've been wanting to go to a proper Go salon," Tsutsui said. "I didn't go much when I was in the club."

"Sure!" Hikaru's eyes lit up. "Let's go!"

"All right, let me just call Sayaka and tell her we're meeting again later..."

"Hey," Kaga protested, but Hikaru was already drowning his voice with excited stories.

"So there is this guy who is a Tokyo Giants fan, and I happened to go to Hiroshima with him..."

"We're not going to Touya's salon, are we?" Kaga rolled his eyes.

Hikaru grinned slyly. "I know you're afraid of setting foot there, so we'll be going to this other one instead--"

"Huh, bring it on anytime," Kaga bit the bait willingly, opening his fan with flourish.

Tsutsui narrowed an eye at the fan. "Still the wrong character, Kaga?"

Kaga doubled over. Where had that boldness come from? Sayaka-chan's influence was worse than he'd thought.

.

.

"Shindou-kun," Ichikawa greeted. "With a friend?"

"Just accompanying," Kaga quickly raised his hands. "I'm not going to play _Go_."

It had somehow come to this unthinkable situation: Sayaka needed to get home; Tsutsui, content from two hours of Go in the other salon, took her back; the friend went with them; and Kaga was left with Hikaru and his reckless answer to the brat's challenge.

"Who asked you to?" Hikaru scrunched his face at him, then turned back at Ichikawa. "Is Touya here?"

"He is," she gestured, "At the back as usual, but he's tied up in shidougo, I think."

"Oh," Hikaru said, scanning the area. "Never mind, I'll play the others then."

Seeing no potential opponent, though, he glanced at Kaga, who deliberately looked around whistling. Hikaru huffed and began walking away.

Kaga's look fell on a certain table, and he paused. "Eh? Touya's playing a girl?"

Hikaru turned abruptly, and followed Kaga's line of sight.

Ichikawa smiled. "Oh, that's Ruri-chan. Shindou-kun, you've met her, right? She was also here last week."

Hikaru remembered her. Her grandfather had brought her with him the first time, and she got along surprisingly well with the other customers. She even played a decent handicapped game against Touya.

"Yeah," Hikaru replied, a subtle frown on his expression.

"Ruri-chan's fine," Ichikawa told him, mistaking Hikaru's look. "She plays Go seriously, and Akira-kun enjoys teaching her. Average fangirls won't venture into the salon just to see him."

Hikaru didn't seem to be listening. "I'll just go see how they are doing," he said, and went off.

Kaga followed, studying Hikaru's expression from the side. "You like this girl?"

"What!" Hikaru glared at him. "Nothing of the sort."

Kaga grinned. "You certainly look jealous to me."

He couldn't be wrong. There hadn't been the slightest hint of envy when Hikaru mentioned those fans of Isumi and what's-his-name, so a reaction of this scale was as good as a neon sign.

"Who'll get jealous over a Go game like th--" Hikaru stopped suddenly, as he remembered his own last Go session with Touya: the hints of teeth, the sparkling drops of water, the inexplicable nervousness.

"...Surely not?" he said to himself, sounding very worried.

Kaga laughed. "You and Touya fighting over a girl? My, I'd never have dreamed of it."

Hikaru sat down and didn't say anything.

Was it more serious than he'd thought? Kaga was getting concerned.

"Hey," he poked, but Hikaru didn't react. He simply sat there, staring blankly, until the girl finished her game and left the table.

She walked past them, and Kaga watched uncomprehendingly as Hikaru ignored her completely. The girl turned back as she realized Hikaru's presence and nodded a greeting, which Hikaru returned half-consciously.

Then Kaga saw Hikaru's eyes turning to fix on the figure at the Go table instead, and he suddenly understood.

So everything came back to this after all.

"I give up," Kaga huffed. He stood up, pulling Hikaru with him. "Hey, Touya!"

Touya looked up, just as Hikaru was protesting the painful grip. He looked surprised upon recognizing the one who'd called his name, but it didn't escape Kaga's attention that his puzzled eyes soon fell on Hikaru, and stayed there.

Confirmed. Kaga sighed and shook his head. Well, he did promise himself to successfully set Shindou up with someone...

With a swift motion he shifted his hold to the back of Hikaru's neck, and shoved him towards the totally unprepared Touya, nose crashing onto nose.

Touya stumbled backwards from the weight, eyes wide, yet he still had the presence of mind to catch Hikaru's arm to steady him.

Hikaru stared at Touya's much-too-close face. It took a few loud heartbeats before his senses came back to him, and he turned his beet-red face angrily at Kaga, his mouth open but no words would form.

"There," Kaga said.

"What were you trying to do?'!" Hikaru managed finally, finding it easier to deal with Kaga rather than with his thoughts on the texture of Touya's skin that he might or might not have felt.

Kaga folded his arms authoritatively. "I was putting into action whatever you were thinking about while sitting stupidly at that table," he said. "Well, this is what you wanted, so _you_ take it over from here. My mission is done. Bye now."

"Wait, hey--"

Kaga was of course not about to obey, and Hikaru's yelling stopped abruptly as he became aware of the pairs of eyes that had turned to him because of that.

He quickly turned back to the corner, only to come face to face with the person ranking second on the list of people he didn't feel like facing right now.

"Uhm," he said, "Sorry about that."

Touya nodded awkwardly, accepting the apology. "Do you come to play a game?"

Hikaru was thankful for that escape. "Yeah. Are you free now?"

"Sure," Touya replied, and hesitated before adding, "I thought you were... busy... on Saturdays."

Hikaru made a pained expression as he gestured towards the direction Kaga had left. "Yeah, that guy insisted on dragging me to a date."

"Eh?" Touya's expression was that of someone who really wanted to ask but was convinced he wasn't supposed to.

Only then Hikaru realized what his answer had sounded like. "No, no, I don't mean _with him_... He was just trying to, you know, set me up with a girl."

Touya stared briefly, before turning away to sit at the table. "I thought that was inevitable," he said. "But it didn't seem to end well?"

"I told him it couldn't be forced!" Hikaru grunted, then frowned. "What do you mean inevitable?"

Touya looked uncomfortable. "Well, we're at an age when people start asking us about girlfriends. You are obviously more socially aware than I am, so when you excused yourself for Saturday nights, I guessed as much."

Hikaru recalled the curious glances and the resigned look. "It was more or less about that, but not that I wanted it."

Touya coughed into his fist. "Anyway, this seems to be a topic you don't want to talk about, so..."

"Huh? No... I was just..." Hikaru scratched his head. "Somehow, I didn't want you to know about--"

Touya did look disappointed this time, but Hikaru was too caught up in his own realization that his feelings had perhaps started earlier than when his hormones had stirred that Sunday, that he noticed that expression rather late.

"I--I mean, that was embarrassing!" he added hastily. "And you seemed to be acting mature these days too, so I felt a little, uh, left behind..."

"...Eh?" Touya hesitated. "I thought I was the one feeling that, since you've started dating... When you showed up early on Sunday, I even thought you got into an argument with your parents over your girlfriend. Or such issues, which I... well, know nothing about."

Hikaru flinched inwardly. What a string of invalid presumptions on both sides.

"I thought it'd be inappropriate to ask," Touya continued, sounding a little apologetic. "Not that I could be of much help either."

Hikaru contemplated the fact that they had progressed this far in this unlikely conversation, and while he hadn't decided on the next step, it wouldn't hurt to probe a little. "Earlier, you said... someone asked you about a girlfriend, too?"

Touya was taken aback, not expecting the topic to turn to himself. "Uh, Oda-san has been arranging omiai sessions for his daughter recently, so the topic came up. Higashi-san also asked me in passing last week."

Higashi-san, Hikaru remembered, was Ruri's grandfather. "That girl would make a perfect candidate for an omiai with you, wouldn't she?" he murmured.

"...Who?"

"Higashi-san's granddaughter."

Touya's eyes widened a little, as though the purpose of the old man's question had only occured to him.

"Ruri-san?" he looked thoughtful, and Hikaru was miffed at his seriousness somehow. "I don't know. Anyway, it isn't my concern right now."

"You _are_ considering her," Hikaru said. The tone came out more accusing than the teasing he'd tried to turn it into.

"Well, you brought it up," Touya replied defensively.

"Is it all good then?" Hikaru asked sullenly. "You wouldn't mind my absence that much now."

"I do mind," Touya shot back at once, before pulling back on second thought. "I'm just saying," he continued, slowly and full of emphasis, "that I understand your situation. I selfishly want to keep you on this path we're taking, but I at least have the awareness that not everyone's life is about Go."

"What makes you think my life isn't?" Hikaru retorted. "Gosh, I already gave up trying to make Kaga see that, but _you_ of all people..."

Touya's features tensed. "Why are you upset? I was trying to accommodate you."

"Well, maybe I don't want to be accommodated. Maybe I don't want Ruri-san to take over my Saturday night slot."

Touya paused, the answer making no sense in his mind. "What does that mean?"

Hikaru looked away, embarrassed. "It means I approve of your selfishly keeping me on this path we're taking."

A variety of expressions crossed Touya's face while he was processing that, and he finally settled on a rather confused cocking of the head. "I don't mean to monopolize you. It's fine with me as long as you can still make time for us once a week."

Hikaru looked at him, suddenly knowing what it must have felt like for Kaga when trying put the concept of romance into _his_ previously Go-obsessed head. "It also means that I want our time to involve not only Go but also dates."

And Touya finally got it, from the way his fingers clasped on his mouth, the epiphanic stare, the silent stuttering he made.

"Of course, if you too can make time for it," Hikaru said lightly, covering up the terrible thumping of his own heart.

Touya uncovered his mouth slowly. "Ruri-san comes for two hours every Saturday," he said, fidgeting with a Go stone. "You can have the rest of the weekend."

An uncontained grin broke across Hikaru's face.

Touya put the stone in his hand down on a star, hoping to avert Hikaru's intense stare that was beginning to give him imaginary tingling sensations. "It's okay to start with a few games... right?"

.

.

Hikaru groaned as his phone rang again with Kaga's name on the caller ID.

"What?" he said rudely into the phone.

"Just checking that you are doing proper follow-up. It's Sunday, so did you guys have your date yesterday?"

Hikaru grumbled. "Could you please stop spying on my life?"

"From the way you're avoiding the question, you must have spent your whole Saturday night playing Go again."

"Of course we did."

"All my effort and nothing changed?" There was a chuck at the other end of the line. "Did I leave too early that day?"

Hikaru rolled his eyes. "Listen, we're doing fine. I'm at Touya's house right now, and you're disturbing us."

A pause, then, "You're just saying that to shake me off."

"It's true," Hikaru said. He walked up to Touya and sat facing him on the sofa, holding his cell away from his ears.

Touya looked up from the newsletter he'd been perusing. "You want me to talk to him?" he asked, his hand reaching out to take the phone.

"No, let me handle it," Hikaru said. The phone hovering between them, he leaned forward and caught Touya's lips with his.

Touya's shocked reflexes were expected, but with his mouth sealed he didn't make any protest that would ruin Hikaru's proof. More importantly, the subdued squeak from his throat, on top of all that rustling, worked perfectly for their listener.

Hikaru paused for breath at some point, and Touya quickly made use of the opening to push him away.

"Shouldn't he have hung up already?" Touya asked breathlessly, glancing sideways at the phone. His blush was even more prominent with his whole left cheek in view.

Hikaru put the phone aside without checking. "Doesn't matter," he said, and leaned forward with both hands this time.

There was a price to pay for such a daring display of affection, and he didn't doubt Kaga's motivation to hunt him down just to give him a hell of a teasing, so he might as well make it worthwhile.

.

..


End file.
